There’s lots of reasons to celebrate spring, and May is chock full of food holidays perfect for every merchant’s marketing strategy. National food holidays provide a unique opportunity for restaurants to showcase their dishes by crafting a seasonal menu or running an ingredient-specific promotion. Each food holiday is dedicated to a particular dish or ingredient throughout the month, ranging from shrimp (May 10) and barbecue (May 16) to wine (May 25) and Hamburgers (May 28). 

Embracing these food-centric celebrations adds an element of fun and excitement to the restaurant scene while cooking up a sense of appreciation for different cuisines. Take your marketing strategy to the next level by celebrating food holidays this May.

Top social media holiday promotions for your May marketing strategy

There are many moments throughout the month that are worth celebrating with your diners. May has Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s Day, two holidays that bring more business to merchants. May is also National Barbecue Month, National Salad Month, National Salsa Month, and National Hamburger Month. All four of these themed moments bring great opportunities to highlight specific areas of your menu and offer special deals to boost orders.

May 5: Cinco de Mayo

Many customers look to order from Mexican restaurants during Cinco de Mayo. Diners get their favorite Mexican dishes, alcohol, and more delivered all week long. To help boost orders we’re featuring restaurants that run Cinco de Mayo promotions on Grubhub Marketplace from May 2 to May 5.

Launch a dollar-off promo in a few simple steps:

1. Navigate to Grubhub for Restaurants and log into your admin account
2. Click “Marketing” and then “Promotions manager” to set up a promotion
3. Select “Cinco de Mayo Deals” as your goal type
4. Launch the offer and watch the orders roll in

May 10: National Shrimp Day

National Shrimp Day is a perfect food holiday for any business with a seafood menu. Post an exclusive Shrimp Day deal on your Facebook and Instagram page and give a percentage off the orders of customers who follow you on social media. Make sure you snap some updated photos of your delicious shrimp dishes for your marketing campaign.

May 12: Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is a top delivery holiday for all types of businesses. Many customers prioritizing family time turn to delivery services to cover their mealtime needs. If you have a Mother’s Day menu or are hosting brunch, adding delivery to your services can help you reach more customers. Grubhub is showcasing restaurants running special deals to help families celebrate from May 9 to May 12. To take advantage of this holiday campaign, launch a dollar-off promo that lasts all weekend.

Here’s how to launch a Mother’s Day promotion:

1. Navigate to Grubhub for Restaurants and log into your admin account
2. Click “Marketing” and “Promotions manager” to set up a promotion
3. Select “Mother’s Day” for your campaign
4. Use our social media templates to let customers know how you’re celebrating

May 13: National Apple Pie Day

National Apple Pie Day is a great time to turn some attention towards your dessert menu. Celebrate by adding apple pie to your dessert menu with a 20% discount. You can also show your loyal customers some love by giving away a free slice of pie to those in your loyalty program.

May 15: National Chocolate Chip Day

Celebrate National Chocolate Chip Day by offering 15% all menu items that have this sweet ingredient. Go the extra mile by creating a chocolatey menu that highlights all your chocolate chip offerings so that customers can easily browse your limited-time promotions. 

May 16: National Barbecue Day

Embrace the warm weather and budding summer vibes by doubling down on National Barbecue Day celebrations. Get digital by offering $5 off anyone who posts your BBQ on their social media profile. Word-of-mouth marketing can be powerful on social media apps, and seeing your creations on their feed inspires more diners to place an order.

May 17: National Pizza Party Day

National Pizza Party Day is a great time to promote catering and group orders. Give a 15% discount to customers that order five or more pizzas to help them celebrate. If you offer catering orders on Grubhub let your customers know with our social media templates.

May 25: National Wine Day

Businesses that offer alcohol delivery have a unique way to take advantage of National Wine Day by promoting off-premise orders. If you have alcohol on your takeout menu run a wine bottle promotion with a special discount for your loyalty members.

May 27: Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a great time to offer a special menu full of American classics like hotdogs, burgers, pasta salad, and BBQ. Fuel backyard cookouts by offering your Memorial Day menu for delivery. You can even go the extra mile by giving a discount for veterans and active military.

May 28: National Hamburger Day

Did you know that hamburgers are one of the top ordered items on Grubhub? Make your National Hamburger Day promotion stand out by hiring a food influencer to share your deals. Food influencers can use their strong local reach to showcase your burgers along with a burger day deal they can’t resist.

Celebrate Gold Days of Grubhub

We’re celebrating Gold Days of Grubhub from May 13th – June 9th by featuring exclusive deals for our Grubhub+ customers. We’re offering eligible merchants the opportunity to be featured during this month-long event.  Eligible merchants can offer Grubhub+ promotions to boost orders during this month-long event.

On average, Grubhub+ members order almost 70% more than non-members.* Launch a Grubhub+ promo to target our most frequent and loyal customers during Gold Days of Grubhub+.

Set up a promo to capture more Grubhub+ orders by following these steps:

1. Navigate to Grubhub for Restaurants and log into your admin account
2. Click “Marketing” and “Promotions manager” to set up a promotion
3. Select “Target Grubhub+” as your goal type
4. Launch your offer to get in on the Gold Days excitement

Contact your account success team through your Grubhub for Restaurants account to see how you can get increased access to Grubhub+ customers.

Boost May orders with Grubhub

Are you ready to incorporate these big May moments into your marketing strategy? Download our free National Food Holiday Calendar for a full list of food holidays and more advice on how you can utilize them to drive more orders. You can tap into our free food holiday templates to post about your deals on social media.

Sign up for Grubhub or log into your Grubhub for Restaurants account to create irresistible deals for your diners today.